Malta: The island of terror and lies

Daphne Caruana Galizia (1964-2017) was an investigative journalist in Malta. Her weblog consistently made life uncomfortable for the powerful, whether in banks or the prime minister’s office. On 16 October, 2017, she was less than a mile from home when her Peugeot 108 exploded and burst into flames, killing her instantly. An explosive had been planted under the car and remotely detonated. Hers was the fifth death by car bomb on Malta in the past few years, and none of the other cases have been solved.

In December, with help from the FBI and Dutch forensic experts, Maltese authorities arrested 10 people and eventually charged three Maltese nationals (Alfred and George Degiorgio, and Vincent Muscat) with carrying out the attack. They deny all charges.

The journalist had faced death threats and libel suits for years. "Our mother’s death warrant could have been signed two years ago," Matthew Caruana Galizia, one of Daphne’s three sons, said.

Caruana Galizia’s one-woman blog, 'Running Commentary,' reported on money laundering, the Italian mafia on Malta, and a controversial program begun in 2014 that allows wealthy foreigners to purchase Maltese passports; especially for wealthy Russians. Her most recent revelations pointed the finger at Malta’s prime minister, Joseph Muscat, and two of his closest aides, connecting offshore companies linked to the three men with the sale of Maltese passports to and payments from the government of Azerbaijan.

Caruana Galizia was harassed for years, had 34 ongoing libel cases her. The family home had been set on fire twice. Pet dogs had been found killed.

The bigger question —the one that has reverberated far beyond Malta— remains unanswered: Who ordered the killing?